СОЦИОЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЯЗЫКА РЕКЛАМЫ

The study of mass media texts in general and English-speaking advertisement texts in particular has a long tradition in Russia and abroad. A lot of well-known scientists such as Shmelev, Kostomarov, Laptev, Teun van Dijk, Allan, Bell, Norman Fairclough, Martin Montgomeri were engaged in the questions of functioning of the language in the sphere of mass media. Various aspects of advertisement texts were studied with the help of discourse analysis methods, content analysis, cognitive linguistics, as well as in the framework of such relatively new areas as critical linguistics and linguocultural studies.

However, a comprehensive description of advertisement texts is hardly possible without a systematic philological analysis, which allows us to consider the text of the text media as an integral multi-level phenomenon that exists in close connection with verbal and media characteristics. Advertisement texts are studied from a variety of perspectives: typological descriptions, functional style, media format, syntagmatic features, as well as from the standpoint of cognitive and pragmalinguistic approaches. Such consistent analysis system allows not only to scrutinize the individual properties of media texts, but also bring all the data into a single logically structured picture that best reflects their real properties and attributes.

"A number of research papers that deal with the impact of an advertisement text and its linguistic context outline that it is a prominent discourse type that possesses a history of its own and functions according to its own, but the advertising effect of its grammatical structures has not yet been sequentially investigated from the viewpoint of social and gender differences between the types of recipients. Mainly because of this prominence, the way an advertisement text is “shaped”, in our opinion, can tell us a good deal about our own society and our own psychology. That is why it is relevant to study the interdependence between the persuasive power of an advertisement text and its grammatical organization analyzing morphological and syntactical phenomena separately and reveal the mechanisms of its functioning as a certain type of discourse". [1, p.17]

In most of the advertisement texts we can observe the following grammatical constructions typical of advertising language:

1. the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs as well as the superlative degree of adjectives and intensifiers (Adverbs and Adjectives) taken as attributes describe the product from the qualitative point of view;

“Persil washes whiter” (Persil)

2. indicative mood (the Present indefinite and the Future indefinite) referring the contents of an advertisement text to the present moment of to the nearest future creates the atmosphere of temporal closeness to the consumer;

“I hate health food. But I love to eat.” (Kashi)

3. ing-forms (Participle I and Gerund) as well as Participle II are close to the use of adjectival forms modifying nouns that stand for the product;

“The world is shrinking. Whereas your scope is constantly growing” (Automatic fax service).

4. infinitive form taken in the function of adverbial modifier of purpose concentrates the reader’s attention upon the action;

“Your friends will want to look at it. You won’t even want to take it off to shower”. (The Bradford Exchange jewelry)

5. modal verbs and words shift the focus on a kind of opportunity the offer may provide;

 “Discount” health plans can look legitimate but can leave you drained of cash and unprotected.” (HealthCare Services)

6. personal and possessive pronouns (2-nd person singular and 1-st person plural) create the common ground between the author of the text and its recipient;

“When you’re traveling with your back pain, even the smallest bag can feel colossal. But with ThermaCare HeatWraps, you can wear soothing heat for 8 hours and feel the relief for a full [….]” (ThermaCare HeatWraps)

7. adjectival and adverbial modifiers (Prepositional and postpositional) as well as the chain o f adjectives highlight the “quantitative” characteristics o f a product;

“A forest-green and maize bird’s-eye-checked cowl-neck sweater is handsome, warm and outdoor hardy at the same time” (Ralph Lauren clothes)

8. imperative sentences is frequent as it is one of the most powerful means of persuasion in any type of discourse;

Buy the car. Own the road. (Pontiac Grand Am)

9. declarative sentences compress the message of an advertisement text and make it sound like motto;

“You will love the skin you are in” (Olay)

10. interrogative sentences in an advertisement text do not presuppose answer and are perceived as statements or guidance;

“Take pictures at night? You need a FinePix” (Fujifilm)

11. exclamatory sentences are clearly structured and exclamatory mark is a very expressive visual “effect”;

Johnny Walker. Taste life!

12. disrupt syntax creates the common ground with the recipient imitating the work of thought;

“Exclusive design…hand-crafted with Swarovski crystals and engraved Heart Charms.  A remarkable value…Available for a limited time” (The Bradford Exchange)

13. one-member and nominative sentences compress an advertisement text and its message to the limit and thus makes advertisement text extremely eye-catching;

“America the Beautiful. From the prairies. To the cities. […]

Proud colours. Young colours. Colours designed for greatness. […]”

(Maybelline)

14. elliptical sentences in larger syntactical units appeal to the recipient through their colloquial form creating the semblance of a conversation and thus involving him in a kind of a dialogue;

“Ever wonder if bangs, straight hair or a short bob are best for your face?

15. inversion immediately focuses the recipient’s attention upon the message of an advertisement text;

“To keep your grip, you need more than the latest of tyre technology – we are talking about the Cavalier’s suspension […]” (Nissan)

16. conditional clauses present clear structure of logical propositions;

“If you died young, who’d pay the bills?” (G Ensurance)

17. time clauses are very close to the previous ones in terms of their structure as well as their use;

“When your radiance gets you noticed, you’ll love the skin you are in.” (Olay)

18. the use of emphatic “It” highlights the name of a product or some relevant quality and thus directs the recipient’s attention to a particular part of message.

“It’s your watch that says most about who you are.” (Rado)

All these grammatical peculiarities of advertisement language build a part of a system the main purpose of which is to attract our attention as consumers and persuade us into liking a product on offer immediately. Even taken individually in any type of written discourse they represent powerful suggestive means influencing particular parts of our nature.

Sociolinguistic studies devoted to male and female language found out that each gender group gives preference to particular grammatical structures characteristic of men and women in their everyday life.

Thus the interdependence between the mass media and sociolinguistics and the way advertisement texts are determined by social and gender roles can be studies through a particular “social roles’ net”, containing schematically taken target groups that any advertisement is always focused on.

The correct choice of such an audience (or group) is one of the basic factors that contribute to creating a successful advertisement. So here a proportional system of the most general male and female social roles is worked out that helps to analyze different types of advertisement texts according to their grammatical functions.

Schematically women are divided into “Housewives”, responsible for their families’ comfort, safety and health, products for cooking and different types of household gadgets; “Mothers” that also manage their families’ comfort and safety with a special “focus” on their children and “Sex Objects” a consuming part of female audience preoccupied with decorating themselves. In this “net” men are addressed as “Plodders”, interested in necessary tools to serve their houses with their own hands; “Businessmen” who search for high-quality information to place their investments accurately or to be in line with the latest developments and “Consumers” interested in expensive gadgets and any kinds of latest developments meant for entertainment. Pensioners (both men and women) present a separate group in this “net” indistinguishable in terms of gender as they are viewed by advertisers in general as a source of money saved during their lives. Thus each of the “distinguishable” groups possess a group-couple and they both form a “family group” that can also be in focus of an advertisement, such as mothers businessmen, housewives - plodders and sex objects - consumers.

One more set of factors that helps any socio-oriented advertisement text to communicate its message successfully can be added to these characteristics. Any advertisement must address the right or part of human nature or the right “center”. In general there are 3 main “centers”, addressed to in any advertisement text: “the head” (or consciousness), “the heart” (or emotional center) and everything that is “below”, responsible for consumerism.

"Being aware of the persuasive effect and power of advertising language is very important not only for linguistics as science of but also for the consumers and even copyrighters as well. Understanding the mechanisms of psychological manipulating helps not only to detect their impact in our everyday life but also gives a field for the further development of advertisement as a type of discourse". [2, p.5]